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Nick goes out of his mind when Adie goes AWOL

The day was warm, not a cloud in the baby blue sky, the sun shining brightly from above, a perfect day to chill out in the sun, to let your worries leave whilst enjoying the rays, but instead of doing that Adie had cooped herself up in her car. She had no idea where she was headed, at first she had convinced herself that she was just taking a short trip, maybe a couple of days with Rachel, just enough to make her see that life with Nick and everything that went with it could be bearable. She couldn’t fathom why she had driven straight past her sisters home but she had. When she did it three more times, past three more houses she knew she had a problem, maybe Nashville was her problem. She just needed to get away, just out of the state, just for a few days, that was all it was going to be, a mini vacation, just some time to herself.

She quickly switched off the radio when the “entertainment news” started to broadcast, the opening headline being about her pregnancy. There were people starving to death in Africa, troops were dying in Iraq but all people seemed to care about was that she was carrying Nick’s child. She had worked so hard to stay out of the tabloids, to not be a part of that side of his life because she knew that wasn’t the real him, she didn’t like that side of him, he was too much of a show off, too cocky, but that had all changed because of one stupid fan. It made her so angry that a fan who couldn’t keep their mouth shut had given away where she worked, had leaked it to all the fans, sure the thread had been closed pretty quickly after that but it was too late, the damage had already been done. Just because the thread was closed didn’t mean people couldn’t email others with the details. She had been dating him for near on three years and she had worked damn hard to make sure details like that didn’t escape to the media, sure they knew she was a nurse but there were hundreds of possible places she could have worked. If this effected her choice in work environment she was not going to be best pleased and maybe it was like Michelle had said, maybe it would just be easier to let the little cronies win. Maybe then she could go back to having a normal life.

Oh no, I see,
A spider web is tangled up with me,
And I lost my head,
The thought of all the stupid things I'd said,
Oh no, what's this?
A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle,
So I turned to run,
The thought of all the stupid things I've done,

I never meant to cause you trouble,
And I never meant to do you wrong,
And I, well if I ever caused you trouble,
O no, I never meant to do you harm.

 

She had always hated the fact that they could never seem to just be normal people when they went out anywhere. She always felt on edge, she was always too aware of her surroundings, like she was just waiting for him to get recognised so that their night would have to be cut short. It had been worse when they were in L.A, but since it had become common knowledge that Nick had moved to Nashville, that one of their favourite night spots was The Tin Roof, you could pretty much guarantee there would be a fan there most weekend nights, just to see if he would turn up. She wasn’t stupid, she knew that without the fans he wouldn’t have the success that he had been blessed with, he wouldn’t have the lavish lifestyle that he shared with her, hell they probably would never have met and it made her wonder whether her life would have been a lot simpler if they hadn’t. After all she had never asked for all this attention.

 

Adie saw the signs for the airport and knew that if she was really going to be able to clear her head, that she would have to be as far away from Nashville as she could. She parked the car in a daze and headed towards the main terminal, dragging her case behind her. Sitting in the terminal for an hour didn’t help her in her decision about where to go and so she fished around in her purse for a dime, heads she stayed in the states, tales she left. She flicked the coin and watched as it landed on her hand.

“Tales, okay so somewhere out of the states,” she mumbled to herself.

She looked to the departures information, narrowing it down to international flights that were leaving within the next hour and half. It gave her an option of four possible destinations. London, “Yeah like I’m going to head back there,” She thought to herself as she continued to scan the board, Brazil, Canada or Mexico. She mentally jotted down the airline company of the destination she decided on and headed towards the sales desk, deep down knowing she was making a mistake.


O no, I see,
A spider web and it's me in the middle,
So I twist and turn,
But here am I in my little bubble

They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me.

 

She wasn’t the one to blame this time. This time it was definitely for the best because she wasn’t putting herself first, she was putting their daughter first, his fans had made the decision for her.

***

Nick knew she had cancelled the call because it just cut straight off without going to voicemail. He didn’t think she was working but if she had been called in unexpectedly it made sense that she would have forgotten to turn the ringer off and would have had to cancel the call. She always called him back though, or at least sent him a text, she always found the time, even when it got crazy busy she would always text him even if it was just one word “busy”.

He hadn’t even received that, and that was what first started to get Nick worried. It had been four hours since he had tried calling her cell and all through the press conference and sound check he had been so preoccupied with his phone that Howie had eventually taken it away from him.

“Can I have my phone now?” Nick asked like some school boy who had had his favourite toy taken away from him.

Howie looked to him disapprovingly before he reached into his back pocket and handed the item to Nick. “I know you miss her but it doesn’t look very professional does it?”

“I’m worried about her, I tried calling and she hasn’t called me back or text me,” he tried to explain.

“She’s probably busy man. You’re not going to turn into a bunny boiler are you?” He joked with a laugh.

“It’s not like her,” Nick said as he punched in Adie’s number and bought the phone to his ear. He could only sigh when he got her voicemail. “Baby it’s me, can you call me back? Or just text me to let me know you’re okay. Love you.”

He hung up and called the house phone but again instead of hearing her voice he got his own asking him to leave a message. He repeated what he had just said on her cell phone voicemail and hung up again as he headed towards catering to eat something before the show.

***

Adie had just about made the flight by the skin of her teeth and she breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down, chuckling slightly when the belt was almost a little too tight around her expanding stomach.

“Just made it huh?” the woman sat next to her asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled.

“How far along are you?” She asked looking down to Adie’s bump.

“Little under six months, I’m due in November,” she replied, her hand unconsciously resting on her bump as she felt her daughter move.

“Enjoy the peace you have left now. My little monster is at home terrorizing his Father as we speak,” she laughed.

“How old?” Adie asked as the plane began to taxi.

“Three. I tell you I have no idea where he gets his energy from, I’m just glad I’m not doing it alone you know? I don’t know how some women can, it’s exhausting,” she sighed.

Adie nodded in agreement her smile fading at the women’s words, thankfully she didn’t have to say anything as the Stewardess announced over the PA system that the pre flight checks were about to take place and called all passengers note the safety demonstration. She glanced ahead at the women not really paying much attention to what was being said, she had seen it all before. All she could think about was how Alex and Brian used to make up their own instructions that would all eventually lead to kissing their asses goodbye, which in turn would make Nick even more uneasy about flying.

Could she really leave him again?

Could she raise a child on her own?

***

Nick had felt his phone vibrate through the opening number and had tried, unsuccessfully, to see if it was from her when Howie had been addressing the audience before “You can let go”. It had taken a long half an hour to get to the point where he could finally check his message and that’s why he was so disappointed when it turned out to be from his brother. Where the hell was she?

His disappointment turned into anger by the time the concert was over and as soon as he was off the stage his phone was to his ear as he left her an angry voicemail on her cell.

“Where the hell are you?! All I asked for was a text message so I know you’re not laying dead in a ditch somewhere. I get you’re pissed off about the fans but I can’t really control that. Call me!”

“Woah, what was that about?” Brian asked as he towelled some of the sweat from his head.

“She’s not answering my calls,” Nick huffed as he yanked his t-shirt off and threw it against the wall.

“Damnit Nick, I’m not your slave,” Marissa, the wardrobe assistant, yelled at him, “Don’t blame me when all you’ll be going out on stage on is your underwear.”

“Is she working?” Brian asked as he headed towards the dressing room.

“She shouldn’t have been and even if she was she should have called me by now. I called this morning, like twelve hours ago,” Nick told him as he kicked off his shoes.

“Called her parents? Rachel?” Brian suggested.

“Not yet.”

“Well try them, I’m sure there is some reason she’s not answering her calls.”

Twelve hours had turned into thirteen and then fifteen and by the seven am the following morning, coming up on almost nineteen hours since she had cancelled the call, Nick was going out of his mind with worry. On Brian’s advice he called Rachel but she hadn’t seen her or heard from her since the previous day when Adie had been venting about the leak of where she worked. She assured Nick that they had talked it out, that by the time she left she seemed okay and she also promised to go to the house first thing in the morning to see if she was in. He hadn’t wanted to worry her parents but it seemed like the next logical place, after all people knew where Alex and Rachel lived, if she wanted to get away from that her parents place was hidden enough. He apologised for calling so late and had hoped that they were going to tell him to stop worrying, that Adie was with them and that she was safe, her Father hadn’t been able to do that for him, the last time he had seen Adie being the day she had turned up unexpectedly at seven am.

After that Nick had called the police in Nashville, but they wouldn’t except a missing persons report for twenty four hours, at that point it had only been twelve and half, he only had five more hours until he could officially declare her missing now. He hadn’t slept a wink on the trip from Halifax to Ottawa, instead choosing to sit in the living area at the front of the bus. At first he had been busy with trying to track her down, he had called so many of her friends who hadn’t seen her, emailed her, tried her cell dozens of times, the same damn voicemail answering, it didn’t even ring just went straight to it. As the night drew on his attempts became fewer, his mind filling with all the awful things that could have possibly happened to her. Maybe she had slipped in the shower? Been involved in a car accident? Been attacked? Or maybe, just maybe, she had done the one thing she promised she wasn’t going to do again.

Maybe she had left, but this time maybe she had left for good.

“Dude you look like shit, have you slept at all?” Alex asked as he made his way down the stairs carefully as the bus slowed.

“She’s still not answering my calls,” he replied flatly, staring at his cell phone, willing it to ring.

“Seriously?” Alex asked, the concern etched in his voice.

“Nobody’s seen her Jay, I’ve called everyone.”

“You called the police?” he asked as he sat opposite Nick.

“I’ve got five hours until I can report her missing but the thing is I don’t know whether she is missing or whether she’s just left again. I don’t know which one I want more because if she has left then at least she’s okay, but…she wouldn’t do it again would she?” He asked a stray, frustrated tear escaping from his eye.

“Things have been good haven’t they?” Alex asked.

“I wouldn’t say good,” he mumbled, “They’ve been better, we’ve been more open with each other. What if it was just an act? What if she really has left again?”

“Why would she have come back in the first place then?” Alex asked.

“Maybe…with all the stuff that’s happened these past few days, maybe it’s been too mu-” he stopped mid sentence and grabbed for the phone when it started to ring, smiling when the caller ID said it was from his house.

“Baby?” he asked hopefully, his smile fading when he heard Rachel’s voice.

“Sorry Nick it’s only me. She’s definitely not here. Where do you guys keep your passports?” She asked.

“Why?”

“It looks like she’s taken off,” Rachel said.

“All her stuffs gone?” He asked panicked.

“NO,” Rachel corrected, “No some of her stuff is gone, like her toothbrush, her overnight bag, one of her suitcases.”

“Her passport should be in the top drawer of the desk that’s in the studio,” Nick shared.

“Okay, I’ll go check now,” she told him and he stayed quiet, shhing Alex when he asked what was going on. He heard as Rachel made her way into the office, heard as she opened the drawer and then he waited for her answer. “Passports gone Nick,” she said flatly and with that he hung up.

He buried his head in his hands and let Alex answer his phone when it began to shriek again, it would only be Rachel anyway and at that point the didn’t feel much like talking to anyone. All he wanted to know was that Adie was safe, that they both were safe, and yet knowing that she had left of her own accord still didn’t fill him with the hope that they were. It didn’t explain why she wasn’t answering her cell phone, why she hadn’t been in touch with anyone else, it was totally out of character for her, except for that one time three months ago when she had done the same, when she had walked away because things got too rough.

***

The plane ride had been long, cramped and bumpy. The whole time all she could think about was him, how he would have complained that there wasn’t enough room for his long legs, how quiet he would have gone when the turbulence struck, how much he would have started to annoy her when he got bored. She waited as everyone else exited the plane, not wanting to be caught in all the pushing and shoving, but it also gave Adie a chance to really think about the decision she had made, she knew it was the right one, it was the only way she was going to be truly happy, it was the only way her daughter was going to get the life that she deserved.

“M’am? Is there a problem?” The Stewardess smiled from the isle, breaking Adie from her thoughts.

“No,” she smiled back, “No I was just waiting for everyone else.”

 

I've been roaming around

Always looking down at all I see

Painted faces fill the places I can't reach

You know that I could use somebody

You know that I could use somebody

***

Someone like you

And all you know

And how you speak

Countless lovers undercover of the street

You know that I could use somebody

You know that I could use somebody

Someone like you

 

Nick had travelled the remaining four hours of the journey in his bunk. He had told Alex, and Brian when he appeared, that he was going to get some sleep, that hadn’t happened though. Instead he had listened to his IPOD hoping that the heartbeat would lull him off to sleep but he made the mistake of looking at the video that accompanied it, the one of his daughter at the very last scan they had been too. They had been fighting then too.

It was then he decided that if Adie wanted to leave she could, but she was going to have one hell of a fight on her hands if she thought she was getting custody of their daughter. He was not just going to be pushed aside, he was going to matter in her life, he was going to be the one she would want to be with and he would make sure that she knew he hadn’t been the one to make her life the way it was.

When the bus finally reached the hotel he made his way towards the front of the bus, making sure to tell Q that he did not want to stop for the fans this morning, at that point all he wanted was to get to his hotel room and report her missing. She might have run but he was damn sure going to find her, and he was damn sure going to get custody of his daughter. The fans voiced their disapproval at Nick not stopping but he knew the others would cover for him, so what if he was the bad guy for five minutes, his fans were so fickle that he would be forgiven if he apologised in his next blog.

He checked in quickly and made his way to the bank of elevators, his eyes on his sneakers, it was easier to avoid attention that way, if he didn’t make eye contact with anyone he was golden. It worked wonders and within five minutes he was in his room on the seventeenth floor, sat in the arm chair, his cell phone to his ear as he waited for the call to the Nashville Police Department to connect. The call was answered promptly just as Alex made his way into the room.

“Nick?” he asked. Nick just shrugged him off, signalling that he was on the phone.

“Yes I’d like to report someone missing,” he said to the women on the phone.

“Nick?” Alex tried again but again Nick ignored him.

“Adrianna Jones,” he answered when the women asked whom he was reporting.

“Nick?” He heard his name called again but the voice wasn’t gruff like Alex’s was, hell it wasn’t even male and sure enough when he looked past his friend he saw Adie stood just inside the doorway.

 

Off in the night

While you live it up I'm off to sleep

Waging wars to shape the poet and the beat

I hope it's gonna make you notice

I hope it's gonna make you notice

Someone like me

Someone like me

Someone like me

I’m ready now

I’m ready now

I’m ready now

 

Song Credits: Coldplay - Trouble

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

Chapter End Notes:
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